The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Catharanthus, botanically known as Catharanthus roseus and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Sunnichipink’.
The new Catharanthus is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Higashiormi, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new freely branching and flowering Catharanthus cultivars with trailing plant habit and attractive and unique flower coloration.
The new Catharanthus originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventors in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan in 2003 of a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code number 03CAT-7, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code number 03CAT-YM, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Catharanthus was discovered and selected by the Inventors as a flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan in 2004.
Asexual reproduction of the new Catharanthus by vegetative cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiormi, Shiga, Japan since 2004, has shown that the unique features of this new Catharanthus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.